Văn Lang
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Văn Lang was the first nation of the ancient Vietnamese people, founded in 2879 BC and existing until 258 BC.[1] It was ruled by the Hùng Kings of the Hồng Bàng Dynasty. There is, however, little reliable historical information available. Hùng Vương is the title of a line of kings and the Văn Lang kingdom are attested in Chinese (Ch'in and T'ang dynastic) sources.[2] The people of Văn Lang were referred to as the Lạc Việt, or sometimes simply as the Lạc.
According to the 15th century book Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Đại Việt Complete History), the nation had its capital at Phong Châu (present-day Phú Thọ Province). It was bordered to the east by the South China Sea, to the west by Ba Thục (present-day Sichuan), to the north by Dongting Lake (Hunan), and to the south by Lake Tôn (Champa). According to Trần Trọng Kim's book, Việt Nam sử lược (A Brief History of Vietnam), the country was divided into 15 regions as in the table below:[3]
| Name | Present-day location |
|---|---|
| Phong Châu (King's capital) | Phú Thọ Province |
| Châu Diên | Sơn Tây Province |
| Phúc Lộc | Sơn Tây Province |
| Tân Hưng | Hưng Hóa (part of Phú Thọ Province) and Tuyên Quang Province |
| Vũ Định | Thái Nguyên Province and Cao Bằng Province |
| Vũ Ninh | Bắc Ninh Province |
| Lục Hải | Lạng Sơn Province |
| Ninh Hải | Quảng Yên (a part of Quảng Ninh Province) |
| Dương Tuyên | Hải Dương Province |
| Giao Chỉ | Hà Nội, Hưng Yên Province, Nam Định Province and Ninh Bình Province |
| Cửu Chân | Thanh Hóa Province |
| Hoài Hoan | Nghệ An Province |
| Việt Thường | Quảng Bình Province and Quảng Trị Province |
| Cửu Đức | Hà Tĩnh Province |
| Bình Văn | unknown |
Việt Sử Lược (Việt Brief History) notes that Văn Lang consisted of 15 regions: in it there are 10 names recorded similar to those given in Đại Việt Complete History (Giao Chỉ, Vũ Ninh, Việt Thường, Ninh Hải, Lục Hải, Hoài Hoan, Cửu Chân, Bình Văn, Cửu Đức, and Văn Lang), and five regions with different names (Quân Ninh, Gia Ninh, Thang Tuyền, Tân Xương, and Nhật Nam). The founder of Văn Lang was Hùng Vương (King Hùng). The Hùng Vương throne was hereditary. The Hùng Kings were military commanders and religious leaders at the same time. Văn Lang was supposedly ruled by 88 Hùng Kings, but only 18 names are recorded (or, according to recent research, 18 names of 18 Dynasties, like Ancient Egyptian):
- Hùng Dương (Lộc Tục)
- Hùng Hiền (Lạc Long Quân)
- Hùng Lân (vua)
- Hùng Việp
- Hùng Hy
- Hùng Huy
- Hùng Chiêu
- Hùng Vỹ
- Hùng Định
- Hùng Hy
- Hùng Trinh
- Hùng Võ
- Hùng Việt
- Hùng Anh
- Hùng Triều
- Hùng Tạo
- Hùng Nghị
- Hùng Duệ
Văn Lang ended when, in roughly 258 BCE, the Âu Việt tribe invaded. The Âu Việt king, Thục Phán, defeated the last Hùng Vương, uniting the two kingdoms, naming the new nation "Âu Lạc", and proclaiming himself King An Dương Vương.[4]
References
- ^ Trần Trọng Kim (2005). Việt Nam sử lược (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House. p. 17.
- ^ Keith Taylor, The Birth of Vietnam, Appendix A, Appendix B and C
- ^ Trần Trọng Kim (2005). Việt Nam sử lược (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House. p. 18.
- ^ Chapuis, Oscar (1995). A History of Vietnam: From Hong Bang to Tu Duc. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 13, 14. ISBN 0-313-29622-7.
See also
